Shooters Hill 2025 - ongoing

The spectacular exhibition of 14th century Sienese painting ‘Siena: The Rise of Painting’ at the National Gallery, London in 2025 galvanised my long held interest in colour and its capacity for articulating visual journeys and conveying luminosity. For many years I have worked in colour alongside making monochrome drawings, and in 2025 began focusing on colour. Watercolour is an exciting medium to use, as it allows me to move between the visual languages of drawing and painting within a single image.

The images below were made from direct observation of the urban forest leading up to Shooters Hill, south east London, in response to the way it altered throughout the year. As the year unfolded, it felt as if both city and forest expanded and contracted with the seasons and weather. This sensation is reflected in the varied height of the horizons, an aspect which emerged spontaneously as the group of images progressed.

It’s also an exploration of the potential of colour to create equivalents of light and spatial rhythm. In particular, the way in which the interaction between trees and human-made structures create a jostling, fragmented rhythm, with both plant and human-made forces appearing simultaneously powerful and vulnerable.

Memory plays a role too, with colour combinations triggering memories of sensations felt on daily walks through the city, in turn guiding the atmosphere of each image: the experience of being enveloped in green light when standing under a huge plane tree in full leaf or the relief my body felt in response to the first signs of the energy of spring's arrival, for example.

Click on each thumbnail for a closer look and to find out more…

All rights reserved. Text and images © 2025 Alexandra Blum